July 2005

The averaging period used for the following assessment was 1961-1990.

UK overview

Mean temperatures again above average across the UK. There were some significant variations in rainfall anomalies across the UK. Scotland and Northern Ireland experienced well below average rainfall, whilst England & Wales saw only its second above-average rainfall month since November 2004.

Gravesend-Broadness (Kent) recorded a temperature of 31.7 °C on 14th. Tornado over the Kings Heath area of Birmingham on 28th, caused considerable damage and injuries.

England and Wales diary of highlights

An unsettled start and end to the month, but mainly dry, warm and sunny during the 2nd and 3rd weeks of the month.

1st to 6th The first week of July was dominated by a series of low pressure areas running in off the Atlantic. This brought fairly unsettled weather to most places, Weybourne (Norfolk) recording 43 mm of rain on the 4th and Boulmer (Northumberland) 47.8 mm on the 6th.

7th to 12th By the 7th a ridge of high pressure started to push in from the west and became established across England and Wales from the 9th to the 12th. There was plenty of sunshine to be found, Torquay 14.9 hours on the 10th and Anglesey 15.4 hours on the 11th. However eastern counties of England were plagued by low cloud drifting in off the North Sea. On the 12th the temperature rose to 30.5 °C at Bolton (Lancashire) and these high temperatures set off thunderstorms over Cumbria and the Pennines, Shap Fell reporting 31 mm of rain.

13th to 17th Pressure remained high throughout this period with a good deal of sunshine and some high temperatures, especially over southern and eastern England. The warmest day of the month occurred on the 14th when Gravesend (Kent) reached 31.7 °C. Many places remained dry but East Anglia, south-east England and the Midlands saw scattered thunderstorms develop on the 13th and 14th.

18th to 22nd A cold front pushed across the area on the 18th and induced thunderstorms over eastern England during the evening. Bridlington reported 10.8 mm in one hour. Cooler weather followed for the next few days as the wind swung into the north or north-west. The temperature at Leek (Staffordshire) only reached 12.7 °C on the 21st.

23rd to 25th An area of low pressure moved into Cornwall on the 23rd and gave Plymouth 23.8 mm of rain overnight. The depression crossed southern England and south Wales during the 24th and 25th giving rainfall amounts of 37.6 mm at Aberdaron (Gwynedd) and 26.8 mm at Brize Norton (Oxfordshire).

27th to 31st The weather remained very unsettled for the end of the month with low pressure the dominating factor. London recorded its coldest July day for 25 years on the 27th when temperatures only reached 15.6 °C. 65 mm of rain fell at Milford Haven on the 28th and 36.8 mm at Linton-on-Ouse on the 29th. A tornado over the Kings Heath area of Birmingham on the 28th caused considerable damage and injured a large number of people. Further heavy showers occurred over south Wales and the southern half of England on the 31st as an upper cold pool drifted slowly southwards across the area.

Scotland diary of highlights

Settled weather prevailed throughout July giving dry weather, particularly in the south-west. A hot and sunny spell in the second week was partly counter-balanced by cool and cloudy conditions in the last week.

An unsettled weather regime covered Scotland during the first six days of July. A deep depression moved north to the west of Scotland on the 2nd bringing rain and gales to the north-west and the wind gusted to 64 m.p.h. at South Uist. Low pressure then developed in the North Sea and gave outbreaks of rain in the east between the 4th and the 6th. Away from the areas of rain there was plenty of bright weather with just a few showers.

Between the 7th and the 13th a large anticyclone near the Azores moved north-east to cover the whole of the British Isles before retreating west again. The east and south-east were sunny from the 7th to the 9th but a warm front brought cloud to the west coast and this eventually spread across the whole country. From the 10th to the 12th air of subtropical origin combined with the intense anticyclone led to hot and sunny weather over much of the country. The most outstanding day was the 11th when the temperature reached 30 °C at Glenlivet and Peebles.

More unsettled conditions brought a mixture of weather types between the 14th and 19th. A cold front pushed a band of rain south-east across the country on the 14th and this was followed by a quiet, dry and cloudy day on the 15th. A warm front brought a return of the warm and humid air and despite much cloud, the temperature rose to 27 °C at Kinloss the next day. The following cold front brought 26 mm of rain to Broadford overnight. A couple of bright and showery days followed but it was much cooler than before with the temperature rising to only 13 °C at Tulloch Bridge on the 19th.

Fair weather returned to Scotland between the 20th and 24th as high pressure built in the Atlantic towards Iceland and a light northerly airflow covered the country. It was cloudy in the north at times but central and southern districts experienced plenty of sunshine.

The dry weather continued from the 25th to the 27th as the light northerly airflow continued. However, it was rather cloudy in most places away from the west and southwest. It was also cool with the temperature falling to 3 °C at Fife Ness and West Freugh on the 27th.

From the 28th to the 30th a depression moved from the Bristol Channel to the North Sea and its front brought cloud to the whole of Scotland and slight rain to the south and east. On the 28th the maximum temperature at Eskdalemuir was 11 °C. Fair weather returned to the south and west on the 31st as a ridge of high pressure approached from the west.

Northern Ireland diary of highlights

Mostly warm and dry, but duller than average.

The first week of the month was rather changeable with showers or some longer spells of rain in places and temperatures around average for the early part of July.

A warm front moved eastwards on the 8th, bringing some light drizzly rain but introduced much warmer and humid air across all areas. Pressure rose and the period between the 9th and the 13th was fine and increasingly hot with long sunny periods. Temperatures rose to the mid-to-high 20's and on the 11th a peak of 29 °C was observed in County Fermanagh. The same day, Belfast airport recorded 28 °C, its hottest day in July since 1989.

The 14th was cloudy and much cooler with some showery rain spreading south-east across all areas through the day. The 15th was then dry but cool with temperatures typically 16 or 17 °C.

Another weak warm front moved across the area on Saturday the 16th and humid air returned; Sunday the 17th turned into a hot and sunny day in many areas with temperatures again peaking in the mid 20's °C. This was followed by some heavy late evening showers in the north-west.

The 18th to the 21st were cooler and fresher once again with winds often from a North-westerly direction. Most days though had some sunshine and it turned temporarily warmer again on the 14th with temperatures locally up to 23 °C.

The last week of the month was very much cooler and the 28th and 29th were wet days in the south and east when a slow moving front gave 20 mm or more in places. Under the wet weather across parts of Armagh and Down, temperatures struggled at an unseasonably cool 12 to 14 °C. During this period, many parts of Fermanagh, Tyrone and Londonderry had little or no rain.